‘Annapoorani’: Nayanthara starrer removed from Netflix amid backlash for hurting religious sentiments

‘Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food’, starring Nayanthara, has been removed from Netflix days after it debuted on the OTT platform. An FIR (First Information Report) was filed against the film’s makers and cast in Mumbai for hurting religious sentiments.

The film narrates the story of a Brahmin woman (Nayanthara) who comes from a conservative family and aims to become India’s top chef. Her classmate Farhan (Jai) helps her navigate the challenges, including cooking and eating meat.

The objectionable moments in the movie involve a scene depicting the protagonist cooking meat while wearing a hijab. Zee Studios, the film's co-producer, has issued an apology and confirmed that these contentious scenes will be deleted, and an edited version will be released. The official statement states, ‘As co-producers, we had no intent to offend the religious feelings of Hindus and Brahmins. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and hurt caused to these communities' sentiments.’

On January 8, an FIR was lodged by Rakesh Solanki, the founder of the Hindu IT Cell. The complaint was directed at various individuals associated with the film, including its lead actors Nayanthara and Jai, writer-director Nilesh Krishnaa, producers Jatin Sethi, R Ravindran, and Punit Goenka, Zee Studios Chief Business Officer Shariq Patel, and the head of Netflix India, Monika Shergill.

The activist wrote on X, ‘At a time when the whole world is rejoicing in anticipation of the Pran Pratishtha of Bhagwan Shri Ram Mandir, this anti-Hindu film Annapoorani has been released on Netflix, produced by Zee Studios, Naad Studios, and Trident Arts.1. A daughter of Hindu Poojari, offers Namaz to cook Biryani. 2. Love Jihad is promoted in this Film. 3. Farhan (Actor) persuades the actress to eat meat saying that Bhagwan Shri Ram was also a meat eater (sic).’

Previously, Amazon Prime Video had issued an unconditional apology for its show ‘Tandav’ following multiple FIRs and public backlash. They expressed deep regret that some scenes were perceived as objectionable and removed those offensive scenes from the series.

Additionally, a Washington Post report mentioned several Indian projects that OTT platforms withdrew from due to the Tandav controversy. These projects include Anurag Kashyap's ‘Maximum City,’ Dibakar Banerjee's ‘Tees,’ and Vikramaditya Motwane's ‘Indi(r)a's Emergency.’

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